Gurudatt M., Director, Schneider Electric
Having worked in the business development domain for about 18 years in various MNCs, Gurudatt M. is adept at driving businesses through strong working relationships. Currently as director, channel and midmarket business, Schneider Electric, he spearheads its sales efforts in the home and business networks and critical power and cooling segments in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
“There is a gradual inclination towards solar-powered UPSs and the growth is being fuelled by an increase in demand from new markets, primarily in Tier II and Tier III cities,” says Gurudatt, who has been associated with energy management solutions at Schneider Electric. He further elaborates that a shift towards cloud computing is generating a need for data storage and safety; data centres require uninterrupted service and power backup, which is a key driving factor for the UPS market.
Gurudatt is an engineer and has a postgraduate diploma in business administration from IIM, Bengalore. He has earlier worked with Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Wipro.
On his most memorable assignment so far, Gurudatt says, “I have enjoyed all my assignments, but if I had to select one, I would rate my current assignment at Schneider Electric as one of my best so far. It is a very interesting role and it provides the right mix of challenges and opportunities in channel management.”
In terms of management style, Gurudatt says he follows a transparent and collaborative approach while encouraging regular communication. “I give my colleagues enough space to grow as true professionals and emerge as potential leaders,” he says. He believes that involving employees in decision-making processes helps identify potential managerial talent, which could help grow the organisation in the future as well as hold on to talented individuals.
Gurudatt describes himself as a family man and a movie aficionado. He enjoys watching the latest movies over weekends. He is a voracious reader as well. Some of his favourite reads are To Kill A Mockingbird, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. He also loves listening to soft music and ghazals to relax.
Gurudatt feels it is difficult to draw up a long-term plan in today’s dynamic world. “Rather than forming a 5-10-year-long plan, I have been setting an objective every year for the past many years, and put in effort to achieve it,” he says.
